This article goes against what most ad agencies will write about. In fact, what was I thinking to write an article about the exact opposite of what I am trying to accomplish for Fullmoon Digital?
My friends, I believe that as much as there are a multitude of reasons to outsource your digital marketing, there are equally legitimate reasons why you should not hire one.
I am compelled to address two important things I feel brands and businesses tend to be unclear about when exploring the possibility of working with digital ad agencies and search marketing consultants:
- When to I hire a digital agency – Timing is everything. Understanding when your business is ready to hire an agency is critical part of growth. Hire too soon, and you jeopardize imprecise execution BUT hire too late, you risk force-fitting strategies into the business. Its a lose-lose-lose scenario.
- Why hire a digital ad agency – Having budget to hire an agency doesn’t mean you should. “So many ideas need to be executed but internal resources are scarce.” I can see how this would drive the rationale to quickly procure an agency.
Today, I will cover the inside details on 8 reasons not to hire an ad agency – because the When an Why is unclear.
We will get to that later in the article.
Additionally, there are plenty of articles written about what to look for when hiring an agency.
Here are three good resources. This is the information brands need to ask when kicking off the search for a partner agency.
- What to ask – 40 questions to ask before hiring an agency
- What to look for – great vetting questions
- What red flags – basic no-nos
Note: If you’re interested to learn about my take on how outsourcing your digital marketing can scale your business, then there’s another article I wrote about that here.
According to this report, there are over thirteen thousands digital agencies in the United States in 2015 and growing each year.
Finding an agency fit for your company is challenging. Coming up with the perfect questions to vet qualifications is nearly impossible, since all agencies only have great results to share.
Do you have wonder how there are so many agencies that claim they are voted the #1 SEO or #1 SEM agency? How many #1s can there possibly be? Many of these “industry nominations” are pay-to-play. Buyer beware. But I digress…
Let’s get back on track, shall we?
Before you go through the reasons below, let me be clear.
I’m are not discouraging you from working with ad agencies. That would be totally unreasonable — and not to mention shooting myself in the foot.
What I am encouraging you to do is to be honest with yourself, your team, your business about when you should work with an outsource agency, and then asking yourself why you need to.
We are helping you to know WHY and WHEN you should be working with one.
8 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Work With An Agency
1. Your expectation does not match reality
Be honest with yourself if you want your business to succeed.
Everyone wants a growth story. Who doesn’t. But if you are expecting overnight success, then maybe what you are looking for is a “growth hacker” OR a “growth hacking company.”
There’s a difference between what a digital ad agency is set up to accomplish versus the individuals or companies that plaster ads all over social media about how they grew an online business to $1M with just $25 Facebook ads in just 6 weeks!
Business of all sizes can be short-sighted when it comes to a holistic marketing strategy. You might have expectations that if you hire the right agency, you too will see results overnight. Not sure how long it took to build Rome, but it definitely wasn’t in 6-weeks, much less 1 day!
If you have drank the koolaid of quick success, an ad agency is not the partner you want to work with.
2. You feel your product(s) is the BEST and people just need to try it
Check your ego at the door. There is not a single business person who say their product is 2nd best. Your product is probably amazing, but it might not the best – because if it is, you’d already be generating sales exceeding your targets and don’t need any help.
Granted, an ad agency’s job is to deliver a convincing message to the consumer that indeed your product is the best.
But it’s more important to position your product as the “RIGHT ONE.” Because the best don’t solve problems, the right one solve customer problems and fulfill their need. Along the way, you just happen to be the best, because you are the right one.
Fact is, your product is entering into a very noisy market that is saturated with advertising fighting for the same customers’ attention. So you need to decide if you want to be the best but maybe not the right one OR the right one that just happens to be the best.
3. Insufficient budget to cover your advertising strategy
Your customers spend time across a broad spectrum of digital mediums and platforms – from Facebook and Twitter to search and YouTube. Few companies have large marketing budget to spend on every advertising medium – from search and video to native and social.
Be where your customers consume and engage content. Whether it is in their Facebook news feed, local Google searches, or Yelp reviews. All these avenues give you the ability to buy ads to promote your business.
If you don’t have enough marketing budget to cover basic advertising costs, then you shouldn’t try to engage an agency.
Because working with an agency comes introduces things like, but not limited to:
- management fees that is usually a flat fee or % of spend
- not maximize the full potential of the agency with nominal spend
- need to create additional assets like banner image ads, landing pages, new content, etc – all these things take time and usually more money
If you truly want to work with an agency, make sure, at the bare minimum you have enough advertising dollars to “keep the lights on” during your peak hours. What does that mean?
Let’s say your online business sells In-Home Massage services in your city.
Your customers could search on sites like:
- Yelp!
- Bing
- YP.com
- and more
You have to promote your business during relevant hours throughout the week so that customers can find your business and book services with you. Without a healthy budget to continue running ads – you risk losing customers to a competitor.
Be honest with yourself. Don’t try to find a low-cost agency that will practically say yes to everything. You want a strategic partner to help you grow your business.
Bottom line, if you are struggling to squeeze money to run advertising, chances are you are not going to even afford the agency. So step on the breaks…the right time will come and it will be glorious!
4. You have not developed your business plan
It is your responsibility to come up with a business plan that you want to build. You shouldn’t be relying on any agency to do that for you.
Unless you plan to find an agency who is willing to be an equity partner, and doesn’t happen too frequently – agencies are rarely in the business of being business partners unless the opportunity presents itself it such way that cannot be ignored. And those are extremely rare.
You know your ideas better than anyone else. You dream about it every night. You are obsessed over it. Write it down, take the time to build it out and find potential business partners who are as passionate and patient, then go at it together.
Then an agency can help you with things like:
- refine the plan
- developing a go-to-market strategy
- work on sales forecast
- build a marketing strategy
- plan your budget allocation
- and more.
At FMD, we have talked to a few prospects that had great ideas to launch an online business. But without a viable business plan on the table, it’s just a few people brainstorming an idea.
5. You are after the latest shiny things
There’s just too many new marketing tools flooding the market. And each one of them launch the most convincing content strategy and message to sway you towards their products.
Their ads promise so much that it is near impossible to ignore. After all, they are marketers!
Some successfully get you to sign up, while others fail to be considered. So your sign up your business for a tool you are truly convinced will help your business get more sales. Then you hit a wall. You realize it takes someone with experience to actually maximize and harness the tool’s power.
You turn to Google or LinkedIn or Facebook and start your quest to find the “perfect agency” that can help you.
This is NOT the way to do it. And we do not encourage this approach.
We’ve seen so many companies sign 12-month+ contracts for marketing and analytics software only to find out that they have just committed to more than the business needs. And more importantly, it was the wrong choice.
You are not the expert in marketing tools, so you need to stop acting like one. If you truly want to grow your business, you need to lean on the agency’s experience to recommend the best fit for your business.
6. Expect to be a spectator on the sidelines
You have the financial strength to hire your first digital ad agency. That’s great news! And after months of research, pitch meetings, vetting questions – you found your fit. You signed the papers.
Any agency worth their salt would have set the expectations by now. The important things covered would include, but not limited to:
- defined your metrics of success
- provided a marketing strategy framework
- clearly laid out roles and responsibilities
Companies who think they can just spectate should reconsider hiring an agency. It’s a partnership. Not a sport.
You hired the agency as an extension of your business. There needs to be constant communication, planning, and collaboration on campaigns, content strategy, execution and results review. This constant feedback loop is a recipe for success.
So decide if you are attending a sporting event OR creating a partnership.
7. Because your boss told you to
Have a backbone. You are in charge of your department. Companies that hire ad agencies typically have the strategy but need 3rd party expertise and resource to execute and generate the best outcome.
On the flip side, there are executives that assign hiring an agency as a tasks for their direct report. A conversation could go like this:
(This Conversion is Made Up to Proof a Point)
CMO: Hey Bob, I noticed that we haven’t been able to execute on our marketing strategy last quarter. And that caused us to miss targets.
Bob: Yes, we were unable to do everything due to other department priorities for the company.
CMO: Why didn’t you let me know about any of this?
Bob: I brought it up in our marketing meetings, but we were very focused on the other objectives.
CMO: OK fine. It’s over now. How can we get better with our marketing execution?
Silence while CMO and Bob goes into deep-thinking mode…
CMO: Let’s hire an agency! Bob, I want to talk to three top agencies and see how they can help.
If you find yourself in a situation forcing you against your best judgement, reconsider your objective. Before you venture out into the buffet of agencies:
- create a list of objectives you want to accomplish with this partnership
- define the results you want to see
- decide on a rough timeline to measure outcome
Don’t go out and just start reaching out to agencies. You end up wasting each other’s time. Come to the table prepared with an understanding of what you are looking for. This will help the agency understand your needs and better propose a solution for the problem.
If agency selection is just part of your list of chore, then stop and try again later.
8. Your competitor is working with an agency. SO?!
So what? If that’s the measure if your actions, you are chasing your own tail.
Just because your competition is using an agency, it does not mean you need to.
I have been on several calls with potential clients where they say “So-and-so is working with Agency X, so we would also like find an agency that can help us compete.” That is such a horrible reason to work with any agency.
Agencies are not mercenaries for hire (even though some act like they are). A digital agency provide access to experts and specialists who integrate into your business and partner with you to hit your objectives and key results. An agency is:
- a strategic business partner
- a resource for marketing ideas
- a teammate training with you for a marathon (not a sprint)
If you are looking for “hit men” then the agency model may not be a fit for you.
Summing It Up
Just like buying a new car, do it for the right reasons. People will continue to buy fancy cars because they can.
BUT practicality and alignment is key.
Yes, Fullmoon Digital is an ad agency. When we work with brands and clients we partner, we make sure there is alignment in vision and culture to ensure success. Misalignment in any areas could be a time-bomb down the road. And we definitely want to avoid implosions!
